October 2018 Babies

I’m going to be Debbie downer

Bookmark Discussion

arog15 wrote:

So I hate to do it, but I have to... just spent the last 1/2 hour on Facebook researching the school shooting at Marjory stoneman Douglas high school and cannot help but be terrified all over again for the work my children have to grow up in...

I certainly don’t want this post to turn into any type of debate - such as gun control or not, conspiracy blah blah blah.

I just want to know when is enough; enough ?! We have shootings in schools, movie theaters, malls, beaches, churches, concerts... I literally am terrified to go anywhere with lots of people anymore. I try so hard to not let this stuff affect me and my kids but I really am scared about some terrible tragedy happening. Why are schools not doing more !?

Metal detectors, armed guards ? Why are they not following through with locked doors and not allowing access from the outside ? The kid was expelled, and NOT a student there - why/ how the hell did he even gain access ? !

I just feel like school shootings especially should and could be almost entirely avoided with some basics precautionary measures?!

I’m a school district accountant - so we are okay spending 1/3 of a schools budget on health insurance for teachers/aides/admin but we can’t hire on a couple security guards for 80-100k a year and have a one time expense for some simple metal detectors ?! Like cmon..

I’m sorry I’m ranting. My heart just literally aches and fears for what this world is anymore.

I just was having this talk with my fiancé. My daughter is to start preschool this year and it’s hooked to the elementary school. Monday our schools were on lockdown due to threatening email. They said they ended up being sent from overseas but now I’m rethinking homeschooling... i know that can be kinda selfish bc school is a great experience and a way to make friends but i don’t know anymore if it’s worth sending her. Let me also add our town is very small. Only stores are a small dollar general and fareway.

This world is getting out of hand.

We also got tickets to go to Disney live last weekend and we went but my anxiety was sky high thinking about all the bad shootings that occur, especially at events/large groups of people.

@adriannoelle2615 It is scary! That was my high school, so it feels very close to home for me (though I moved long ago). If it could happen there, it could happen just anywhere. I fear for what our children will be exposed to.

I feel the same way! I have a lot of anxiety in large groups/big events. I get worried about my kids at school. Just recently there was a murder right by my sons elementary. The suspect wAs on the run and they didn’t know where he was. I called the school to see if they were aware ( we live in a small little town) they had no idea and the school wasn’t on lock down until I called. The police station is right next to the school. Why couldn’t they just take the extra pro caution In notifying the school for our kids protection? Also my daughter says in active shooter drills at school they tell the kids to huddle together in a corner in the classroom. Why not take this seriously and find the best and safest plan for active shooter drills. This is the reality we live today and we need to step it up. I talk to my kids often about what you should do. I Tell them to be observant and pray like crazy if that were to happen.

I do SO love living in Australia where this just doesn't happen. Not to say we don't have our bad guys of course but we see your news when mass terror happens in USA and I don't know how I'd cope with that. I'm confident it won't be forever like this for you guys x

It is so horrible. That was my high school that I just graduated 6 years ago. It was suppose to be one of the safest public schools in the safest city of South Florida. I was already planning on sending my kids there. I can’t even begin to think of the worry I will be going through with each school year. It is awful and such heartache.

Right now I am angrier about the fact that there were more than enough warnings that this kid was going to do this. Everyone tells us to be vigilant, to report suspicious behaviors. From what I’ve read, the community did everything they could do and the officials dropped the ball. This kid should have been monitored. How was he even able to get a weapon? Why the hell was he allowed so much freedom. I’m disgusted at our system right now. This is so much bigger than gun control. Where were the authorities? They tell us to do our civil duty and they did, yet they were ignored.

Schools in this country are already so massively underfunded for their one and only mandate, which is to educate our kids, and you think it’s a good idea to use funds for armed guards and militarized lockdowns? I’m sorry but I find that offensive. The one and only answer is stricter gun laws and after the Newtown shooting came and went without any change I think we have missed the boat as a society. That was the tipping point and we did nothing. You want to keep kids safe? Vote for local, state, and federal legislators who will do what Australia did and pretty much ban guns. That’s our only hope.

p.s. There is a board on this app called Hot Topics, and if you really want to discuss this issue with folks from all over the world with interesting and thoughtful opinions, that might be a better place.

I don’t want to debate it at all. Hence the reason I put the line saying “I don’t want to turn this into a gun control , conspiracy theory blah blah blah “

Secondly I am a school district accountant so please don’t try and tell me schools are grossly underfunded because I can guarantee you 75% of the schools in this country are not !

Call up your local district and ask for a foil request for their financials. Trial balances, expense reports and revenues.

One district I work for is a medium sized school with roughly 750 students. Their GENERAL fund budget ( not including school lunch, special aid -this is all grants from state and federal govt for thinks like pre-k, title 1,25,6 section 611, 619 etc etc, capital find, debt service, trust and agency, scholarship funds) is 19 million dollars ! You’re telling me 25,000 a kid for a 180 day school year is underfunded?!

The special aid fund is another 750,000

School lunch fund is 500,000

Capital fund has a 12.4 million dollar project going on right now

Debt service which is meant to pay off debt has a million dollars in cash just sitting there accruing interest that hasn’t been touched or used in years.

Take a look at the reserves in general fund school they can be upwards of millions of dollars in cash and districts have no intent of using that money.

districts are supposed to only keep a 4% fund balance for unseen expenses. Most districts 85% keep anywhere from 8-10%.

So yes I know exactly where the money goes and yes I do know that schools could fund these things. Also I’d gladly pay higher taxes for my kids to be SAFE.

It just doesn’t make sense to me. This happens so often. I live in Indiana, a very conservative state. I do hold some conservative values but I don’t understand why we don’t do more for gun control. The facts are in the statistics. The countries who do have strict gun control have less or no school shootings. Point blank. I don’t think it’s just about guns either, though - our kids are much more depressed and anxious compared to many other countries. They don’t go outside enough, they don’t eat right, they don’t have the best role models.. our divorce rate is around 60%. It’s just ridiculous. Our culture is clearly different and in the bad way! It makes me worried that I’m pregnant and that this will continue to happen. My heart breaks for these kids and parents.

I’m sorry but when you put a post on an open forum like this, you will get people’s opinions. You can’t just call it a “debate” when they differ from yours.

At the end of the day this has to do with gun control and mental health awareness. Schools are so underfunded. Maybe the school you work at isn’t, but MOST other public schools in this country are. Where will the money come from to install these high tech metal detectors, and security guards? That is putting a bandage over the problem. Tougher gun laws accompanied by treatment/help for people with mental illness will help to stop this problem. And keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.

I do agree with a PP that you should put this on the hot topics board. But I guarantee you will get a debate there.

I disagree with some of this. I never knock anyone for their thoughts ideas feelings etc because honestly the reality is this is a scary issue and topic and it’s a huge reality in the world we live in.

First everyone compares gun control to Australia - Australia’s population is like 24.2 million. Ours is 323.1 million. That’s a HUGE difference.

These people that are committing these acts aren’t obtaining these guns legally (for the most part) and there are so many illegal guns on the street it would be absolutely impossible to get them all - if someone wants a gun they are going to get one. That’s a fact. So my thought is why not do what we CAN and protect our schools/ colleges etc

I come from a long line of gun owners, myself included. None of my family has ever used a gun to inflict harm or pain or fear on anyone. I will raise my kids around guns and they will know the exact consequences of mishandling or misusing a gun. My son is 4 and has a B.B. gun- he knows where it’s locked up, but he knows he’s not to even step foot in the room without mommy or daddy or his uncles. And he doesn’t ! Because I am teaching him and raising him to respect guns and their power.

I’m not saying some form of gun reform isn’t needed I’m just saying instead of always focusing on one point why can we not think of things/ get accomplished what could actually happen in the very near future ? It would take a few hundred thousand dollars per district to install some more security measures- and could be accomplished in a few months time.

To not comment back bc I just want everyone to see the entire picture and not just one sliver of the issue. And I’m in no way getting hostile or upset so o really hope no one thinks that.

I recognize this is a huge problem but I literally do not see why everyone might think there is one solution to these problems.

I’m not saying that all schools are over funded or under funded either. I am simply saying that schools have ways of keeping money that people just simply aren’t aware of. And regardless of what anyone thinks I do know that the majority of EVERY single school districts budget goes to salaries/benefits for the employees as any company would as well. so a lot of the money that is already given to a district is accounted for bc of those costs. Also I work within a BOCES so I actually work with 21 school districts in some capacity in upstate New York and they are all The exact same way- over fund balance, over funded in reserves and most never actually expend to the actual budget voters authorized- so they roll excess revenues from year to year. so I have a pretty good idea of at least my area. And like I said I’m not naive to think that every district is that way but funding from state and federal governments is based on a multitude of things.

And I literally did not want a debate and I respect everyone’s opinions , and I honestly don’t think Anyone is right or wrong or immature or anything with their thoughts. - I just simply was wondering if anyone was scared about the world we are bringing our kids into ...

That’s exactly what I was saying! It was like 11 at night watching my babies sleeping peacefully and my heart was just broken. Ya know? I’m a level headed person so I completely think there is way more than one answer to this issue I just can’t help but feel like an immediate solution would be to help “guard” our schools more. Maybe not in the form of guards but even a wand metal detector that the principal has access to ?

Or maybe stricter district policy on locked doors and entry points?

I just feel like gun reform isn’t the only answer and neither is mental health awareness and neither is a guarded school - I think more so it has to be a combination of it all... kind of like attacking it from all angles ya know ?

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